Honeymoon destinations, sorted by what you can actually spend

Honeymoon planning usually starts with a destination and ends with a budget shock. It is easier the other way around. Below are options grouped by realistic per-couple spend, including flights, hotels and food — not just the package headline.

All figures are indicative and move with season and airfare.

Domestic, and better than its reputation. Kashmir in spring or autumn gives you houseboats and meadows for very little. Kerala pairs a houseboat night with a hill resort. Andaman gets you clear water and snorkelling without a visa or currency exchange.

The advantage here is that almost the entire budget goes into experience rather than airfare.

This is where international opens up properly. Bali gives you a private-pool villa for a fraction of what the equivalent costs elsewhere. Thailand offers islands and city in one trip. Vietnam is currently the best value in Southeast Asia.

Bali is the one we recommend most often in this band, mainly because the villa standard at this price is genuinely high.

The Maldives is the obvious answer and deserves it — an overwater villa, half board and a house reef is a specific experience nothing else replicates. Mauritius offers more to actually do. Switzerland and the Alps suit couples who would rather be cold and outdoors than warm and still.

One caution on the Maldives: the resort transfer can add substantially to the cost, and food at resorts is expensive. Ask for the all-in number, not the room rate.

In our experience, couples rarely regret paying for a better room, a private transfer or one genuinely special dinner. They frequently regret an itinerary with too many moves in it.

Tell us your total budget rather than a destination, and we will show you what it buys in three or four places. It is a more useful conversation.